“You worry a lot. I’m fine. No one is going to mess with me with you around to scare them off.”

“That was the plan. But what about that guy tonight? Do I need to scare him off too?”

Jason hadn’t yet met the idiot who had cancelled dinner on Brinley the other night and had only seen him drive away earlier this evening but he would happily let the guy know that he was no longer in the running.

Brinley deserved better.

“Greg? I don’t think I’ll be seeing him again. I told him that it wasn’t going to work out.”

“How did he take it?”

“He wasn’t happy but I think he got the message. There wasn’t really anything between us. We’d only been out a few times. I met him at the coffee shop. We didn’t even kiss.”

Confirmation this Greg guy wasn’t very bright. “Two dates and he didn’t kiss you? He’s a slow mover.”

“Maybe he wasn’t that attracted to me. What do you usually do by the second date?” Brinley slapped her hand over her mouth and giggled. “Forget I asked that. I’m not sure I want to know.”

“Of course he was attracted to you. Who wouldn’t be? I sure as hell wouldn’t be just holding hands with a beautiful and desirable woman. I’d at the very least get a kiss on the first date.”

*

The electricity had been building between Brinley and Jason for the last twenty-four hours. Maybe more. When she’d fallen asleep in his arms last night, she’d never felt more safe and protected despite the fact that she might be in danger. She trusted that Jason would never let anything happen to her.

Now hearing that he found her attractive…even beautiful and desirable made her heart leap at his softly spoken words. Gathering every bit of courage she had inside she gazed into his eyes, curiosity winning over fear.

“Is this our first date?” she asked, trying to sound light and playful but her throat was tight with an unnamed emotion. Arousal swirled in her belly whenever Jason was near. She needed to know if he felt the same.

Jason smiled, a dimple appearing in his cheek. “The night you invited me to dinner was our first date. And then last night when we watched movies together was probably our second. So this would be number three.”

Brinley had a decent idea of what Jason did with a woman on the third date and she wasn’t nearly ready for that. He was a good man and she was attracted to him but she’d been burned before, moving too fast in a relationship.

One step at a time.

“I don’t think those count but we can call this our first date.”

She tried to keep her tone neutral but the words came out rushed and breathless. Wiping her damp palms on her shorts, she tried to rein in her racing heart. The thought of kissing Jason overwhelmed everything and anything.

His hand slid behind her neck and tugged her closer, heat sweeping through her from head to toe. “Then we both know what comes next.”

His hands stroked up and down her spine in a slow, soothing motion that did little to settle the maelstrom of emotions whirling inside. Her bones turned to jelly under his hypnotic ministrations even as her breath hitched at his touch.

She let her hands slide up his strong arms, feeling the hard muscle under her palms. His skin felt warm as her fingers trailed up his shoulders to loop around his neck. He had moved closer, and his lips were mere inches from her own. She could feel his warm breath as his lips slowly descended. He stopped mere millimeters from kissing her.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I saw you.”

Then his lips were on hers. The kiss began as a gentle whisper, a brush of his mouth. She’d expected an alpha male such as Jason to devour and dominate but instead he seduced and cajoled, drawing her ever closer. Moth to flame. Magnet to pure steel.

Jason nipped at her lower lip and ran his tongue along the seam until she was practically begging him to dip his tongue inside her mouth. His mouth finally sealed with hers and his tongue began a gentle exploration. The sensuous foray sent desire coursing through her veins and settled low in her abdomen. She pressed closer to his body and answered his tongue with her own. Her head spun and her arousal inched higher as she breathed in his delicious scent. Spicy and distinctly male, Brinley let it wash over her, pulling her further from the horrors of the last two days until they were only people in the world.

In his strong arms there was no room for fear, the only danger to her heart.

By the time he dragged his lips from hers everything had changed. They’d moved from casual neighbors to friends to near-lovers in a short forty-eight hours. As much as her body yearned for what she knew would be out of this world pleasure with Jason, her head wouldn’t allow total surrender. Some shred of self-preservation held her back from giving him everything.

It was too soon. Too fast. Brinley needed to catch her breath.

She placed her palms on his chest and could feel his heart under her fingers, racing as quickly as her own.

“That was…amazing,” she finally said.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not happy about that? Usually an amazing kiss is a good thing.”

“It is good,” she protested, trying to find the right words to explain what barely made sense in her own mind. “I just don’t want to move too fast, that’s all. I’ve done it before and it didn’t turn out all that well.”

For his part, Jason didn’t look too upset by her edict. “I can understand that and respect it. I’ve done the same. I guess it wouldn’t be bad to slow things down, especially since I’m supposed to be keeping you safe, not stripping you naked.”

Heat burned in her cheeks as a vision of the two of them undressed and writhing on a bed flashed in front of her eyes. She’d never been much for sex in the past – she usually ended up disappointed – but with Jason it promised to be very good indeed.

“So we’ll slow things down then?”

He’d agreed so she couldn’t understand why she felt depressed at the mere thought. It was just that the kiss had been so damn hot…

“Slow and steady. That’s what I always say.”

A take charge kind of man like Jason had probably never said those words in his entire life.

“Really? I haven’t heard you say that since I’ve met you.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Jason gave her a grim smile. “Actually I never say that. I was just trying to be a good sport about getting slapped down.”

“You didn’t get slapped down. I just…” Brinley took a deep breath and tried to explain. “With everything going on I feel kind of overwhelmed at the moment. It’s not that I’m not attracted to you. Because I am–”

“Brinley, stop,” Jason commanded, bringing a halt to her emotional babbling. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I get it. You have a lot going on in your life right now and it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. When the time is right we’ll both know it. And honestly? This isn’t the moment. But when it’s time I do have one request.”

He was grinning now and she couldn’t do anything but smile in return. He’d taken an awkward situation and turned it completely around. Another reason she liked him so much. “Name it.”

He leaned closer so he was whispering in her ear. “Be gentle with me.”

Choking with laughter, she sighed dramatically and tapped her chin in consideration. “I’m not sure I can promise that.”

To her delight Jason chuckled and dropped a kiss on her nose. “Fair enough. How about we head back to the barn?”

Jason helped her mount up and they rode slowly back, taking their time and enjoying the quiet of the evening. He was a special man not to have taken offense. She’d known plenty of males that would have pouted or been angry. He really did understand her need to slow things down.

The funny thing was…now that he’d agreed to do it, she wasn’t so damn sure that’s what she wanted.

Because she wanted him more than anything.